Automobile-light.



J. McCASKEY.

AUTOMOBILE LIGHT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1911.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

zone 06 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOSEPH MCCASKEY, 0F WILKESON, WASHINGTON.

AUTOMOBILE-LIGHT.

the invention is to provide a means whereby a'strong headlight may benormally used to project'- its beams'a considerable distance ahead ofthe car and whereby, when another car is approaching, the beamsof saidlight are projected fdownward to shine on the ground in front of the carandto avoid interfering with the clear vision of the driver of saidother car,- andvwhereby an additional I spot-light is automaticallylighted, said addi- 'tional-light shiningon the ground on the passingside oft-he car-.- A further object fog or in passlngov'er very is toprovide eflicient illumination of. the road front .of the cariespeciallyduring a rough ground, or in passingthrough-cities. --I attain theseand-other objects by the devices, mechanisms, and arrangementsillustra'ted in-the'accompanying drawings, in

"Figure 1 is a vertical section of'my im- I proved headlight is adiagrammatic view illustrating .iny invention; and igQ-js a front F1g.2. is'a. cross section thereof on the line view of an automobileequipped with my invention; .li-tsiinilar numerals ,of reference referto 'Ysimilar pa'rts throughout the severals views.

'The two headlights are of the kind known asfspot-li'ghtsand areadaptedto send strong beams of lights a great distance. Each headlightconsists of an. outer body orshell i suitably secured on a standard-2mounted rivets, 7. An electric lamp 8 on the frame 3 of the car, thefront of said s shell being'closedby a glass 4 which may be thereflector body 6 and moves with it. The

rear end of the reflector rests normally on a lug 9 in the shell 1, andhas a rod 10 pivotally secured to it whereby it m a be raised to directthe beams from the reflector downward. The rod 10 is operated by thefollowing mechanism:

A horizontal transverse shaft 11 extends across the front of the frame 3of the machine, being mounted in suitable bearing lugs 12. A pair oflever arms 13 are secured to the shaft- 11, one such arm being adjacenteach headlight The rods 10 join the ends of the arms 13 with therearends of the reflectors 6. An operating lever 14; is also so to theshaft'lcver 14, whereby when said Specification of Letters Patent,Patented DIar, 12, 1918, Application filed March 12, 1917-. saw No.154,092.

hand lever 15 is moved the two reflectors '6 are turned on the pivots 7so as to send their beams either substantially horizontally or at anangle downward in front of'the car, according to the position and motionof said 'hand lever 15. The hand lever 15 preferably engages a ratchetplate 17 which may be provided with a series of notches adapted toreceive a suitable spring dog on the lever 15 whereby said lever may beheld in any position in theusual way. The plate 17 may also be"preferably turned out at. its ends to limit the motion of the lever 15'and therefore of the lamp reflectors Y A side spot-light 20 is alsomounted on the passing side ofthe car, in such position as to throwits-beam on'the ground near the car. This light is normally dark. When,however, the hand lever 15' 1S moved to turn the light of the headlightsdownward, it closes the electric circuit b which said spotlight 20 islighted, asfolllows z A contact plate 21 is suitably supported on thecar ad- ]acent to the lever 15;said plate- 21"being electricallyconnected to the lamp" in the spot-light 20, by means'of the wire 22.One

terminal of the battery 23, or other source of electric energ isconnected to the other terminal of the lamp of-the light 20 by the wire24. The other terminal of the battery 23 is connected to the pivot ofthe lever '15, by the wire 25 which a so passes up'the said lever to thecontact brush 26 which is mounted on the lever 15 in-such position as toengage the contact plate 21. The brush 26 does not contact with theplate 21 when the lever 15 is in such position that the headlights arethe wire 27 to the lamps in the headlights;

a suitable switclriS being placed in said circuit.

It is evident then, that norn'ially the reflectors ot' the headlightsproject their beams substantially horizontally, but that they may beprojected downward by simply moving the lever 15; and that when the arein said normal position, the side spot-light 20 is dark, but as. soon asthey are moved from said normal position, the side spot-light 90 isillumined to throw its light on the road on the passin; side of the car.Also in foggy weather. the illumination of'the ground iu-lront of thecar is a much more effective means of seeing the road than by projectingthe beams horizontally and simply illuminating the fog; in this case thelinh'ts are keptpoiuted,downward.

' iaving described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A main light adapted to be deflected, a supplemental light includedin an electric copied ot this patent may be obtained for five centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of circuit, and means fordeflecting the main light and simultaneously closing the circuit of thesupplemental light.

In an automobile light, thecombination with the. vehicle frame; of asource of electric energy; a headlight mounted on said frame andelectrically connected to Said source whereby it is illuminated;manually operable means whereby a portion of said headlight may be swungto project its beams substantially horizontally or at an angle downward.a tixed side light projecting its cuit, a switch in said circuit, andmanually operable means for deflecting the head lights andsimultaneously closing t heswitch to bring the supplemental light intoaction.

JOSEPH MCCASI IEY.

Washington, D. O."

